Leaving one nest for the other, for the summer anyway

Published: Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, May 14, 2010 at 8:50 p.m.

He’s taking his last college exam of the semester, one of the few remaining tasks standing between him and three months of freedom.

That in itself is not upsetting. I’m used to having a bunch of teenage boys — they travel in packs, you know — clutter my driveway with their jalopies, and my house with their guitars and amps.

I’ve suffered through 21 summers with Boy Wonder, and I long ago learned what to expect when school’s not in session.

He stays up half the night and sleeps half the day.

He leaves a trail of wet bathing suits and towels behind him, evidence of an afternoon in the pool or a day at the beach.

He might barbecue up a mess of burgers, leaving the grill where I’ll trip over it and leave a catastrophe in my kitchen.

And the one thing I can count on, or so I thought, is that he’ll spend hours at a time holed up in the rear bedroom, a space he’s occupied since that long-ago day when his little brother arrived.

But you know how kids are: About the time you think you have them all figured out, they do something to prove you wrong.

Turns out that Boy Wonder won’t be in his bedroom this summer after all.

The little boy who pinkie-swore he’d live with me forever is now a man-child with adventure on his mind.

He’s leaving in mere days, bound for the piney woods of north Louisiana.

My pride and joy is going to spend the summer with his grandparents, a move that’s taking him from one nest on the family tree to one that’s nestled just a little higher in its branches.

He’s going to spend the upcoming weeks apprenticing, if you will, for his dear old grandpa.

He wants to learn some of the skills the old man’s mastered — stuff like tinkering on engines and crafting from wood — and spend a little quality time riding around on one of those iron ponies they’re both so fond of.

Most importantly of all, he’ll take over a coveted spot behind the wheel of one of his granddaddy’s race cars.

Come Friday night, he’ll be zooming around a mud-packed circle while his grandmother and I pray that he makes it safely back to the race pit. A successful race is not always one you win, or so the saying goes, it’s the one that ends with a still-running car that you’re able to drive onto the trailer.

I’m hoping that my daredevil son is able to drive onto that trailer at the end of each and every race, an outcome much preferable to the smash-and-crash, burst-into-flames stuff that I sometimes see displayed on the track.

Trust me, there’ll be a whole lot of fervent praying and nail biting in the coming weeks. Feel free to join in.

Boy Wonder’s plans are far removed from summers past, when he could be counted on to work, loaf and work some more, the former and latter to help pay for textbooks and other costs associated with that coveted college education.

We had a long talk about his taking this summer off, something he

wanted to do, but wasn’t sure he should.

I encouraged him to go for it, reasoning that it’s the last chance he’ll have before things like career and family obligations take precedence.

“You’ve got just one year of school left,” I told him, “and then you won’t have the luxury of doing something like this.”

How was I to know that he would take me up on it?

His departure date is circled on the kitchen calendar, and it’s drawing increasingly closer.

I’ve been coping with the inevitable via a heaping dose of denial, viewing his leaving as nothing more than a summer vacation.

We have that decades-old agreement, after all, that he is here to stay, and his dad has long said that the boy is more likely to move his family under our roof than he is to leave it.

But my eldest child may be giving me hints that he’s thinking about leaving the nest for good.

It was Mother’s Day, the sun was setting and we were cleaning away the remnants of the barbecue dinner made special for me by three of my favorite guys.

“That was very good,” I told my outdoor chefs. “I guess y’all get to stay for another year.”

“Well, I’m good then,” Boy Wonder said as he brushed his hands clean. “A year’s all I need.”

Dee Dee Thurston is managing editor of The Courier and Daily Comet. She can be reached at 850-1149 or deedee.thurston@houmatoday.com.

<p>As I write this, my oldest child is putting pen to paper.</p><p>He's taking his last college exam of the semester, one of the few remaining tasks standing between him and three months of freedom.</p><p>That in itself is not upsetting. I'm used to having a bunch of teenage boys — they travel in packs, you know — clutter my driveway with their jalopies, and my house with their guitars and amps.</p><p>I've suffered through 21 summers with Boy Wonder, and I long ago learned what to expect when school's not in session.</p><p>He stays up half the night and sleeps half the day.</p><p>He leaves a trail of wet bathing suits and towels behind him, evidence of an afternoon in the pool or a day at the beach.</p><p>He might barbecue up a mess of burgers, leaving the grill where I'll trip over it and leave a catastrophe in my kitchen.</p><p>And the one thing I can count on, or so I thought, is that he'll spend hours at a time holed up in the rear bedroom, a space he's occupied since that long-ago day when his little brother arrived.</p><p>But you know how kids are: About the time you think you have them all figured out, they do something to prove you wrong.</p><p>Turns out that Boy Wonder won't be in his bedroom this summer after all.</p><p>The little boy who pinkie-swore he'd live with me forever is now a man-child with adventure on his mind.</p><p>He's leaving in mere days, bound for the piney woods of north Louisiana.</p><p>My pride and joy is going to spend the summer with his grandparents, a move that's taking him from one nest on the family tree to one that's nestled just a little higher in its branches.</p><p>He's going to spend the upcoming weeks apprenticing, if you will, for his dear old grandpa.</p><p>He wants to learn some of the skills the old man's mastered — stuff like tinkering on engines and crafting from wood — and spend a little quality time riding around on one of those iron ponies they're both so fond of.</p><p>Most importantly of all, he'll take over a coveted spot behind the wheel of one of his granddaddy's race cars.</p><p>Come Friday night, he'll be zooming around a mud-packed circle while his grandmother and I pray that he makes it safely back to the race pit. A successful race is not always one you win, or so the saying goes, it's the one that ends with a still-running car that you're able to drive onto the trailer.</p><p>I'm hoping that my daredevil son is able to drive onto that trailer at the end of each and every race, an outcome much preferable to the smash-and-crash, burst-into-flames stuff that I sometimes see displayed on the track.</p><p>Trust me, there'll be a whole lot of fervent praying and nail biting in the coming weeks. Feel free to join in.</p><p>Boy Wonder's plans are far removed from summers past, when he could be counted on to work, loaf and work some more, the former and latter to help pay for textbooks and other costs associated with that coveted college education.</p><p>We had a long talk about his taking this summer off, something he </p><p>wanted to do, but wasn't sure he should.</p><p>I encouraged him to go for it, reasoning that it's the last chance he'll have before things like career and family obligations take precedence. </p><p>“You've got just one year of school left,” I told him, “and then you won't have the luxury of doing something like this.”</p><p>How was I to know that he would take me up on it?</p><p>His departure date is circled on the kitchen calendar, and it's drawing increasingly closer.</p><p>I've been coping with the inevitable via a heaping dose of denial, viewing his leaving as nothing more than a summer vacation.</p><p>We have that decades-old agreement, after all, that he is here to stay, and his dad has long said that the boy is more likely to move his family under our roof than he is to leave it.</p><p>But my eldest child may be giving me hints that he's thinking about leaving the nest for good.</p><p>It was Mother's Day, the sun was setting and we were cleaning away the remnants of the barbecue dinner made special for me by three of my favorite guys.</p><p>“That was very good,” I told my outdoor chefs. “I guess y'all get to stay for another year.”</p><p>“Well, I'm good then,” Boy Wonder said as he brushed his hands clean. “A year's all I need.”</p><p>Dee Dee Thurston is managing editor of The Courier and Daily Comet. She can be reached at 850-1149 or deedee.thurston@houmatoday.com.</p>